Sensitive information is commonly stored on solid state drives, hard disks, floppy disks, and USB storage memory devices. While degaussing is a known process to erase digital data, the only way to ensure the digital data is destroyed is by disintegration of the memory device.
Known prior art by the Applicant includes a number of patents for data destroying devices, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,324,321 for a Degaussing Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 7,852,590 for a Solid State Memory Decommissioner; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,064,183 for a Capacitor Based Bi-Directional Degaussing Apparatus With Chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,294 and related U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,270,282; 7,334,747; 7,424,981 and 7,448,562 by Castronovo disclose a zero tolerance cutting system for paper, CDs, DVDs, Polyester, plastic cards, SMART cards, wood, and other generally planar materials. The cutting system includes a cutting blade, typically a rotary cutter, and a sacrificial plate or round bar contacting the cutting blade. The contacting portion has zero clearance during the cutting operation. A metering mechanism is also provided, which is capable of metering the material at a predetermined rate to the cutting blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,340 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,500,625 disclose the use of a rotary scissor action, where one curved blade of the scissors rotates and the other is stationary. In this arrangement, the feed angle and position are critical. Rubber rollers feed and position the material being fed to the cutters. Deviation of the feeding angle and position will cause the scissor blades to bind.
What is needed in the industry is a device capable of disintegrating solid state drives into particles less than 2 mm to ensure no aspect of the memory device is recoverable. Such a device must be of an acceptable weight, that is less than 500 lbs., and operate at a decibel level that is appropriate for a working environment.